On tonight’s show...Will the two hours of
WCW Nitro be a good or a bad thing? Will anyone care
about “Hardwork” Bobby Walker? The Mauler? Steve Doll?
Or Maxx Muscle? (wow, shapes up to be almost like WCW
Saturday Night? And who is “invading” WCW? (DUM DUM
DUUUM!)Get the answers to all these questions
and MORE WCW tomfoolery in this week’s episode of…

WCW Old School Recap of Complete Awesomeness!

Date: May 27th,
1996

Location: Macon, GA

For the first time ever in Nitro will be 2
hours and I’m surprisingly upbeat about it after
watching last week’s 90 minute “taster”, of course now
it’s a matter of keeping up that head of steam and keep
on trucking towards pure awesomeness. Tony Schiavone &
Larry Zbysko are gonna announce the first hour with
Bischoff and Heenan taking care of the second one. As
far as I remember this is the first time Schiavone will
announce on Nitro, having only substituted as an
interviewer at one point. Sting will take on Scott
Steiner in the Main Event for the first time ever (as
far as they can recall), sadly 5 years later, everyone
would’ve collectively screamed “AGAIN!” at that match,
but I digress, let’s not wallow in the sadness of the
future past, when we have perfectly good past past
wrestling to entertain ourselves with (now THAT is a
time conundrum worthy of any science fiction film). The
Giant will face The Shark later on as well (see? 2 hours
= happy times...>_>).

This is apparently a part of Flair &
Anderson’s training towards The Great American Bash and
their match against Mongo & Kevin Greene...well I
suppose you always warm up before you begin the actual
training. Flair & Arn use nice double teaming to isolate
Scotty Riggs in the opening of the match. This continues
until Riggs counters another attempt at a double team
move, and Bagwell gets in and helps him gain control by
neutralizing Flair allowing Riggs to take care of Arn
before sending both men out of the ring. We go to
commercial as Arn & Bagwell are in the ring, and as we
return, we do so just in time to see Bagwell’s big
comeback. Riggs gets tagged in but Flair & Arn team up
to gain control as they begin to target his knee. By the
way, 10 minutes into the first 2 hour broadcast and
Schiavone & Zbysko are getting drunk...welcome to WCW!
Riggs are in trouble until he hits an Enziguri to send
Arn out of the ring and get the hot tag to Bagwell.
Bagwell clears house and hits a Missile Dropkick on
Flair, but Arn breaks up the pin. Bagwell hits a
Bridging Fisherman’s Suplex (which appears to be his
finishing move) but the referee is busy getting Riggs
out of the ring and Arn breaks it up in
time...again...Bagwell gets another pin on Flair shortly
after but Woman rakes him in the eyes to break it up
(for some reason it doesn’t draw a DQ...but WCW’s DQ
rules are convoluted as hell), as the referee is
distracted, Arn gets in the ring and nails him with a
DDT, allowing Flair to pick up the pin.

WINNERS: Ric Flair & Arn Anderson

Okerlund is standing by the VIP table to
talk to the winners. He brings up McMichael & Greene and
Arn says that he can take on any football player and
that he has no respect for anyone wearing protective
gear (guess he wasn’t a big fan of “Screamin’” Norman
Smiley). Flair then cuts a promo (in his usual coked up
way) talking about how Debra belongs to him. HOLY FUCK!
That’s the most fucked up guy I’ve ever seen, he sorta
looks like something out of “The Thing” or that doctor
guy from Resident Evil 2 after he’s transformed. He
looks like an optical illusion for Christ’s sake! We cut
to a training video of Steve McMichael & Kevin Greene
lifting weights and grunting...slightly disturbing

Steve Doll Vs The Mauler w/
Col. Robert Parker

See! If Nitro didn’t go to 2 hours, we
probably wouldn’t have had THIS awesome
match...yeah...what a shame THAT would’ve been. The
Mauler is apparently a new signing by Col. Parker and he
dominates Steve Doll by throwing him
around...and...stuff. The Mauler drives Doll over the
top rope, but as he goes with him it doesn’t count as a
DQ (apparently...I’ve given up understanding that
“rule”). Outside the ring, The Mauler continues to
destroy his opponent as we go to commercials. Once we
come back, Scott Hall comes through the crowd and climbs
the rail. He grabs a microphone and basically trashes
the WCW before saying that when that “Ken doll wannabe”
comes out here later, he has a challenge to issue before
saying that if WCW want a war, they’ve got one. I
normally don’t talk about what happens in the immediate
future, but needless to say, this was the beginning of
the single biggest angle in wrestling history, and the
angle that made WCW that much more interesting actually
until they closed (not necessarily good, but more
interesting). The match is apparently thrown out as we
go to commercials once more.

WINNER: No contest

Sgt. Craig Pittman w/ Teddy Long Vs Diamond Dallas Page

DDP mocks Pittman and does a few push-ups,
but Pittman upstages him by doing a few with only one
arm and then dodging a punt leaving DDP to hit air and
crashing to the mat. DDP complains about Pittman pulling
his hair before he pokes him in the eye and headbutts
him, but apparently Pittman is part Samoan as DDP knocks
himself out of the ring by doing that. The announcers
keep talking about who the mysterious benefactor that
helped out DDP making his return could be, my vote is on
it being completely ignored soon. Pittman locks in a
variation of the Code Red, but DDP grabs hold of Teddy
Long to get the break and then pushes him to the floor
which causes Pittman to check on him and turn directly
into a Diamond Cutter for the 3 count.

WINNER: Diamond Dallas Page

We get a video package showing how crazy
Randy Savage has become, the thing is edited in typical
90s fashion with delicious close ups and a horrible
voice over. Coming up next, Hogan on Baywatch and The
Giants yelling...exciting!

We return after commercials to Okerlund
standing by with The Shark in the locker room area. The
Shark complains about getting beat up by The Giant and
getting kicked out of the Dungeon of Doom as he claims
he’s gonna hurt Sullivan by winning the World Title
(...well...). The Shark claims to have almost ended
Hulkamania, which might be stretching it just a bit, and
speaking of Hulkamania, here’s a video package of our
favourite Hulkster (favourite by default, but still our
favourite) and the celebrities that he’s hung out with
(George Foreman, Shaquille O’Neal, Dennis Rodman, Kevin
Greene, “Sugar” Ray Leonard, the cast of Baywatch and
him starring in several “big” movies, like Mr. Nanny and
Suburban Commando...*ahem*)...well he has been gone for
a little while now so I suppose it was about time they
reminded us just how awesome he is...I almost forgot...

The second hour of Nitro begins as we switch
to Eric Bischoff and Bobby Heenan at the regular
announcer’s table, they discuss Mongo and Kevin Greene
training before Bischoff mentions that they won’t
dignify the interruption by Scott Hall with a response,
and that if he has something to say he can say it
straight to Bischoff himself.

The Shark hails from...Tsunami...yes, The
Shark was born and raised in a large tidal wave. That
suddenly makes Parts Unknown sound like a good idea all
of a sudden. The Shark tries to knock The Giant off his
feet by repeatedly hitting him with Shoulder Blocks
until The Giant floors him with one Clothesline. The
champion repeatedly kicks him in the corner and then
inexplicably turns his back allowing The Shark to hit a
Double Axe Handle from the top to little effect. Shark
tries to lift Giant up for a Scoop Slam but he’s unable
to lift him and instead ends up on the receiving end of
one. The Shark gains some momentum from an Eye Gouge and
is eventually able to knock The Giant off his feet with
a Top Rope Clothesline before Jimmy Hart jumps up on the
apron to distract him long enough for The Giant to hit a
Chokeslam for the win.

WINNER: The Giant

After the match, Big Bubba comes out and
shaves half of The Shark’s head while The Giant simply
watches. SEE! When you got your dignity raped, it was
karma coming back to bite you in your fat ass...bastard.
According to Bischoff this is the most disgraceful thing
a wrestler can do to another...I dunno what wrestlers
have against getting a free haircut.

Lex Luger (c) Vs Maxx Muscle, WCW World Television Title
Match

Holy fuck! I completely forgot that the TV
Title even existed. Maxx Muscle is so awesome that he
has TWO x’s in his first name, and a Mohawk! If that
doesn’t spell class, I don’t know what does. For a
person who didn’t wanna talk about Scott Hall, Bischoff
sure...you know...talk a lot about Scott Hall.

Maxx starts by bring Luger down a few times
to show his strength, Luger gets a few Running Forearms
in before Maxx hits a Powerslam for 2. Bischoff talks to
someone off camera and then announces that Hall will get
time to talk at the end of the hour. Maxx Muscle
continues to dominate as Bischoff talks a little about
The Great American Bash where Benoit will face Kevin
Sullivan in a Falls Count Anywhere Match, this match
stems from Benoit thinking that Kevin Sullivan is a
homewrecker within the 4 Horsemen, the delicious irony
of course being that Benoit would steal Sullivan’s wife
(Woman) during this feud. Luger comes back with a
Running Forearm and a Powerslam before he locks in the
Torture Rack out of nowhere for the win.

WINNER: Lex Luger

After the match, “Mean” Gene is standing by
to talk to Luger about his upcoming World Title match.
Luger says that no one wants The Giant more than he does
as we see footage from when The Giant Chokeslammed Luger
through a table on Nitro a couple of weeks back. Luger
says that he can’t believe The Giant didn’t care about
the match and wanted to take him out instead, but he’s
still standing and Luger says that he wants every big
man that WCW’s got before his match against The
Giant...to prepare, or something...I dunno.

“Hardwork” Bobby Walker Vs Brad Armstrong

...ooookay? Talk about a random
match...yeah, my mind sorta went blank during this
match, purely due to me not caring one tiny iota.
Neither does the crowd by the way, but at least they
have a concession stand to go to. Bobby Walker loses his
balance on the top rope TWICE during this match, before
he picks up the win with a Top Rope Spear.

WINNER: “Hardwork” Bobby Walker (to a
thundering no one cares from the crowd)

“Lord” Steven Regal w/ Jeeves
Vs Alex Wright

We go straight into the next match which at
least has a semi-over wrestler in Regal who are quite
good at drawing heat. Alex Wright starts off pretty well
as Bischoff talks about Regal’s tough past where he had
to wrestle in tar pits in India and wrestle for his
food. Turns out that “Bum Fights” weren’t exactly a new
thing then, it’s been going on for years. We come back
from a commercial with Regal in control with him locking
in a variation of STF, and then hits some forearms and a
Double Knee to the face. Wright actually shows some nice
agility as he jumps onto the turnbuckle in one jump and
backflips over Regal before rolling him up for a 2
count. Regal yells to the camera that there’s no chance
that anyone will come into the company and take anything
away from him, but Wright might (hehe, rhyme) as he hits
a Dropkick and a couple of European Uppercuts. Wright
hits a Jumping Sidekick before going for a Monkey Flip
in the corner, but Regal blocks it and hits a Jackknife
pin for the 3 count out of nowhere.

WINNER: “Lord” Steven Regal

Okerlund is standing by with Regal in the
ring after the match and Gene asks him about what his
adversity towards USA is. Regal calls Gene a miserable,
little toad (HA!) before mentioning that it’s memorial
day and that his father would be so pleased that he
managed to beat “Junior Adolf” (HAHAHA!) Regal was
fucking awesome even back then. Regal then says bloody a
lot as he berates The Giant, Macho Man and Scott Hall as
he talks about wanting to have a say about what’s going
on here. Regal challenges Sting to a match, saying that
he wants to prove himself and get a shot at The Giant’s
title...wait a minute...is this the beginning of a Regal
push!?

Scott Steiner Vs Sting

Sting grabs some food from Flair’s VIP
table, gotta load up on energy before a big match I
suppose. Scott Steiner uses his power to dominate from
the get go, but Sting uses his quickness and agility to
get back into it. Steiner hits a Double Underhook
Powerbomb and a Belly-to-Belly Suplex before he jumps
from the top rope and hits Sting outside the ring with a
Double Axe Handle which back in the ring gets him a 2
count. Steiner continues his dominance and locks in an
STF in the middle of the ring, but for some reason
Steiner releases his hold and switches it to an Armbar
instead. Steiner releases his hold again (is this guy
afraid of actually winning or what?) and instead opts to
go for a Vertical Suplex, but Sting counters and hits a
Scorpion Death Drop, which is the first time I believe
that he’s used that move...although this was back when
it was simply an Inverted DDT, so he doesn’t even go for
the pin...it’s amazing how much more devastating a move
gets once you call it something different. Sting
actually manages to hit a Stinger Splash (seems like the
first time in months), but tries to hit another and
instead hits the turnbuckle and gets nailed with a
Dragon Suplex. Lex Luger comes out and is almost
immediately followed by Rick Steiner as Scott hits a Top
Rope Samoan Drop and motions for the Frankensteiner, but
Sting holds on to the ropes resulting in Steiner not
connecting. Sting puts him in the Scorpion Deathlock but
since it’s right by the ropes it leads to nothing.
Steiner goes for a Tombstone Piledriver, but Sting
counters and hits one of his own, but he only gets a 2
count. Sting goes for a Splash, but Steiner gets his
knees up and both men ends up on the floor. Here Scott
tries to Suplex Sting, but Luger pulls Sting down and
throws Scott back into the ring, which of course results
in Rick Steiner and Luger going at it, which ends up
involving both Scott Steiner and Sting causing the no
contest.

WINNER: No contest

Several wrestlers run out to separate the
two teams as we cut back to the announcer’s table where
Scott Hall comes out to confront Bischoff. Hall says
that WCW is a joke and he continues to say “we” as he
challenges Bischoff to get 3 of his best wrestlers for a
match “where it matters” in a Call of Duty team
deathmatch...or in the ring, whichever, as he says that
they are taking over. Hall leaves a stunned Bischoff and
Heenan sitting lost for words as we fade to black.

WCW – Aaaah, Good Times: Well
whenever anyone think back on the first 2 hour Nitro one
thing comes to mind, that obviously being Scott Hall.
It’s hard to praise the way this angle was started
enough, cause say what you will, him “invading” the show
was fucking brilliant. The rest of the night was largely
forgettable and sadly not of the same quality as last
week, but Hall making the challenge has created a whole
new level of interest for next week’s show.

WCW – WHAT THE HELL WERE THEY THINKING!!!: As I said,
if you take Hall out of the equation, nothing about this
significant show made me take notice. It was largely
boring, uninteresting, and it didn’t even showcase
anyone that couldn’t have been showcased on a 1 hour
episode, with the exception of Steven Regal (don’t say
Bobby Walker, that guy is green as broccoli). But it’s a
start, and I’m very much looking forward to the month of
June, which I think is the first time I’ve ever said
anything like that when it comes to WCW.

That’s it, join me again soon for more WCW
as we slowly work towards The Great American Bash and a
wrestling landscape changing angle. Until next time, I’m
Esben Evans, read everything on the site and don’t do
anything I wouldn’t do.

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